Paints can exhibit numerous visual and physical characteristics such as color, gloss, weatherability, durability and other traits that may influence their potential life and suitability for particular applications. To control and adjust the visual and physical characteristics based on the intended or desired application of the paint, the formulation of the paint may be adjusted. Specifically, paint formulations can comprise a variety of elements that can individually influence one or more of its physical and/or visual characteristics. For example, base formulations comprising various resins, solvents and/or additives may be mixed with paint components such as pigments and/or metallic flakes to obtain a paint formulation with a desired color. However, while the performance of the base formulations may be determined based on previous uses, the addition of various pigments, metallic flakes and other paint components may introduce additional risk due to unknown performance. Further, the testing and evaluations of new paint formulations can become a time and cost intensive process.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative methods for predicting risks in utilizing paint components in proposed paint formulations.